Wisconsin and South Dakota plan medical cannabis for 2020

Wisconsin and South Dakota are among the 18 US states that still do not allow the medical use of cannabis. However, both states are trying to make progress on the issue, and to put initiatives to legalize medical cannabis on the 2020 referendum ballot.

Bipartisan bill in Wisconsin

Lawmakers in the traditionally conservative state of Wisconsin introduced a bill last Friday that would allow patients to consume cannabis for medical use by enrolling in the state's future program. Patients suffering from cancer, IDA, Alzheimer's, post-traumatic stress disorder, acute pain or chronic illnesses will be eligible for the program. medical marijuana. A licensed cultivation program would also be initiated under the aegis of the State.

«Doctors and patients, not government, should decide whether cannabis is the right treatment,» says Patrick Testin (Democrat), who also co-sponsored a bill legalizing industrial hemp cultivation in the last legislative session.

The bill is being introduced by two Democratic senators and one Republican senator. Democrats have tried to pass some form of cannabis legalization in every legislative session for the past ten years. Not to change, the latest bill faces an uncertain future with a Republican-controlled legislature.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said he did not support the bill. «Everyone knows that medical cannabis leads to the legalization of cannabis,» he said. «I don't support this plan and I think it will be a hard sell to the majority of our caucus.»

83% of the state's population is in favor of medical cannabis. A non-binding referendum had already taken place in 2018.

Two initiatives in South Dakota

In South Dakota, changing hemp and cannabis laws is complex. The state is one of only 4 in the U.S. not to have legalized industrial hemp, but that hasn't stopped activists from gearing up for 2020.

Two measures are currently trying to gather signatures for a referendum. One seeks to legalize medical cannabis, the other to legalize cannabis for adults. Similar measures failed to gather enough signatures for the 2018 referendum.

The Republican governor is frankly opposed to any change, and believes that legalizing industrial hemp and cannabis are on the same level.

However, the state's citizens seem to be in favor of changing the laws. If both measures pass the referendum, it will be the first time that medical and adult use have been put to the vote at the same time in an American state.